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Researchers report that Takeda Pharmaceuticals' Actos proved effective in a late-stage trial in reducing the risk of fatal or serious conditions associated with Type II diabetes. In conjunction with Eli Lilly, Takeda has been developing the drug, which the companies said reduced the combined risk of heart attacks, strokes and death by 16%.

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The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has approved Takeda Pharmaceutical's new drug application for Zafatek, a dipeptidyl peptidase-IV inhibitor given weekly, as a treatment for type 2 diabetes. The approval was supported by late-stage trial data that demonstrated the drug's safety and effectiveness in treating patients with the disease.

Japan's largest drug manufacturer, Takeda Pharmaceutical, plans to narrow its research focus to areas where it can be among the best, according to the company's new president, Christophe Weber. Takeda, which is experiencing shrinking profit margins, recently saw late-stage testing fail for a diabetes drug intended to replace its best-selling drug Actos, now being sold in generic versions.

Takeda said it will discontinue development of its experimental prostate cancer drug orteronel after it failed to extend overall survival in two late-stage trials. "[A]fter careful consideration of the data from these trials, the company has determined that the drug has not demonstrated a clinical profile sufficient to move forward in mCRPC," Takeda said.

Eli Lilly reported two late-stage trials of Arxxant for diabetes complications failed to prove effective in reducing pain and other symptoms, but a third showed it did slow vision loss in diabetics. Arxxant had been expected to be a blockbuster drug for the company, worth $3 billion in annual sales within five years; the results were termed by a Lilly official as "a hit in our confidence," but the recent studies are not "a show stopper."